Learning Languages..

[MikeN]

I've been trying to slowly teach myself French for a few years now since I travel there semi-frequently. I'm at the point where I can basically exist in France (well, Paris) without really having to resort to using English too frequently. I'm far far far from fluent (as several French speaking members here can attest to!)

[orphée]

To me the best criteria for learning the language is what kind of literature has been written in it. So German wins. But I love the sound of Italian - it's such a beautiful language.

And I agree - if you don't immerse yourself, you will probably forget it. I really want to move to Paris for a couple of years to learn French. Alas, it's not a possibility for me :(

The unquestionable place of German literature in Western civilization nothwithstanding, Italian literature is nothing to be sniffed at. From Dante's Divine Comedy - which, if the reader is up for the challenge of 14th century Italian, is a matter of relishing each and every phrase as an utter thing of beauty and profound social and religious commentary - to Machiavelli and even some of the more recent sci-fi/fantasy Italian authors such as Evangelisti with his epic tales of the Spanish Inquisition with sci-fi trappings, there is much to be gained from a good delve into what the Italians have been writing. A good deal of it also lays the foundation for Italian cinema, i.e. Pasolini.

[and it naturally comes in handy for shopping and, more importantly, eating throughout Italy]

[dmash]

REALLY appreciate the input thus far guys, definitely why I asked here

I'm still 'in the process' of learning Spanish though and have quite a ways to go. Has anybody ever doubled up on learning languages before? or is it usually best to try and nail down one fairly well before moving to another? I'm almost thinking that if I go with Italian I might mix a few things up (as some things intertwine with Spanish).

[Faust]

Likewise. I think I could be content living almost anywhere in Europe, but Paris tops my list. 2 years of high school French & several pocket language guides later..

No matter how often I may go, it still pulls on my heartstrings every time I leave.
*And not just because my aunt & uncle, who live there, were both pastry chefs for 20+ years.. and force me to eat & drink things such as THIS, every night.. ;)

As much as I like your criteria for language-learning, E, I prefer to judge a country based on the intensity of their cuss-word burn factor.
I'm a firm believer that the more creatively you can tell someone to go "%*&#^!!" their mother/sister/self/god, the more likely you are to whip your 'new tongue' out & use it.

Well, dear, in that case Mother Russia is calling. We have invented the phrase "a three-story curse."

[Faust]

The unquestionable place of German literature in Western civilization nothwithstanding, Italian literature is nothing to be sniffed at. From Dante's Divine Comedy - which, if the reader is up for the challenge of 14th century Italian, is a matter of relishing each and every phrase as an utter thing of beauty and profound social and religious commentary - to Machiavelli and even some of the more recent sci-fi/fantasy Italian authors such as Evangelisti with his epic tales of the Spanish Inquisition with sci-fi trappings, there is much to be gained from a good delve into what the Italians have been writing. A good deal of it also lays the foundation for Italian cinema, i.e. Pasolini.

[and it naturally comes in handy for shopping and, more importantly, eating throughout Italy]

I am not belittling Italian literature. But I would rather like to be able to read Kafka, Musil, Broch, Mann, Hesse and many others in the language they wrote.

[trentk]

immersion, watch movies spoken in your native language, subtitled in a foreign language or get fucked.

edited

[tron]

I'm just beginning to delve in to learning Japanese. Starting with the written language(s) and then hopefully moving towards conversational speaking. I'm hoping to have a decent grasp on at least the written within a years time as I'm planning a trip to Tokyo.

[Enaml]

^^ When I came to college I thought I'd take the Japanese to fill the language requirement, but have actually become very interested in learning the language. I've been studying Japanese for about 2 years now, so at this point giving it up would be a huge waste. Am now in my school's Advanced Japanese (which inaccurately implies proficiency). I lived with 2 native speakers last year which was really helpful as I learned a fair bit about conversational speaking, something that you simply cannot pick up in a classroom / language lab setting. Next semester I'll be studying in Tokyo and living with a Japanese family, so here's to hoping I'll get much better while there. I'm actually now considering teaching English in Japan after I graduate to take some before I go to graduate school (assuming, of course, that I actually do).

I'm interested in hearing the experiences of other non-native Japanese speakers here. There have to be more.

[nadir]

Can anyone here comment on how different the french in Montreal is to the french in France? I'm hoping to move to Montreal next year so will be needing to take some super-intensive French lessons before then.

[nostromodo]

Is anyone interested in learning korean??

[mortalveneer]

anyone on here speak catalan?

I'm nearly fluent in spanish, and use it for some of my research, but my catalan has deteriorated since I left bcn, my only contact being books and the fact that I run my facebook in it...

[cowsareforeating]

Is anyone interested in learning korean??

yes i am.

also interested in brushing up on french and becoming literate and more "cultured" in mandarin

[semper]

I speak Swedish, English, understand well and speak a bit of farsi, speak a teeny bit of german, and on tuesday my dutch class begins.

en, lukt het een beetje?

if you learn spanish, adding italian and portugese would be easier. however, with german you would be able to branch out into dutch and flemish.

The idea that you can learn a related language more easily is only half true. If it's related to a language you speak fluently, e.g. your native language, it's certainly true. But if an English native speaker would take an intense course in, say, Spanish after a year of learning Italian, he will probably forget a lot of Italian, and will start to confuse the two.

I speak reasonably good French, not so good Italian and my Spanish is completely self-made (however I could survive in Argentina). I don't think I will ever make more out of my Spanish; I'd rather improve my Italian.

The only languages in which I read literature are Dutch, English and German. I get in touch with a lot of old Italian poetry, but I always need a dictionary.
Once I started to read Querelle de Brest in French, but I gave up after 20 pages... I really had no idea what I was reading. Genet turned out to be a bridge too far.

Ages ago I studied Polish for two years in university, both in Amsterdam and Warsaw, and last summer I could still communicate reasonably well. I'm fascinated by Warsaw, but I would NEVER want to live there though.

[dmash]

anyone on here speak catalan?

I'm nearly fluent in spanish, and use it for some of my research, but my catalan has deteriorated since I left bcn, my only contact being books and the fact that I run my facebook in it...

Up until about a year ago, I always thought Spanish was the main language across the entire country. Wasn't even aware that Catalan was used for street signs and stuff in BCN.

[semper]

Up until about a year ago, I always thought Spanish was the main language across the entire country. Wasn't even aware that Catalan was used for street signs and stuff in BCN.

in Spain, "Español" doesn't refer to a language at all. The language that we call Spanish is called Castellano, as opposed to Catalan, Basque and Gallego, all spoken in Spain.

And I noticed they have their own language on street signs in the Valencia region.